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I've disassembled a music engine from a game, and the data is very much in the form of a tracker (sequences of patterns, with note and effect events, including an instrument set).

Is there a tracker program which would allow me to specify the constraints and then get at the data in a way I might transform it to the necessary binary format? Or would I be better off trying to import/export a classic module format, and rely on users to stick to the constraints? It's particularly painful to try to convert the instruments, let alone edit them...

Maxim wrote

Is there a tracker program which would allow me to specify the constraints and then get at the data in a way I might transform it to the necessary binary format? Or would I be better off trying to import/export a classic module format, and rely on users to stick to the constraints? It's particularly painful to try to convert the instruments, let alone edit them...

What about DefleMask Tracker? The file-format (DMF) is documented on their website, and it already forces the constraints (perhaps too many? I don't know the instrument/voice format for the engine you disassembled) required.

I'm sure it's a superset of my constraints. I'll have a look.

It seems like it isn't, because it has one tracker channel per chip channel. It would be possible to export to it but not import.

is your format different from one tracker channel per chip channel? If so, it isn't exactly a tracker format...

It's three channels, but some instruments use the noise channel too (and the player code selects which one would win if two did so at once, although in practice that doesn't happen).

So if it doesn't happen, you could just turn your data into a DefleMask file... well, you then probably will have to code an exporter too.

my experience was mostly converting .vgm to VortexTracker .txt format, but i’m still struggling on the noise channel - http://vgmrips.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&p=7305#p7305 - http://vgmrips.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2341&p=7369

My goal is to emit editable files and then reimport the results, so it could be as simple as emitting a module with the available instruments as samples and three channels. The issue would be that the instruments don't scale as samples, and the effects won't sound quite right either (volume changes and pitch bends). Once the module gets to sound too far from the engine, it becomes less useful to be in the tracker in the first place.

For now, I've made it work in the form of assembler data statements with lots of macros. I think I will leave it for a while and carry on with the rest of my disassembly. It's on Github if you care to go looking.

Author	Message
Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Extensible tracker for an 8-bit music engine? Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:25 pm
	I've disassembled a music engine from a game, and the data is very much in the form of a tracker (sequences of patterns, with note and effect events, including an instrument set). Is there a tracker program which would allow me to specify the constraints and then get at the data in a way I might transform it to the necessary binary format? Or would I be better off trying to import/export a classic module format, and rely on users to stick to the constraints? It's particularly painful to try to convert the instruments, let alone edit them...

WayneK Joined: 22 Jan 2017 Posts: 1	Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 3:02 pm
WayneK Joined: 22 Jan 2017 Posts: 1	Maxim wrote Is there a tracker program which would allow me to specify the constraints and then get at the data in a way I might transform it to the necessary binary format? Or would I be better off trying to import/export a classic module format, and rely on users to stick to the constraints? It's particularly painful to try to convert the instruments, let alone edit them... What about DefleMask Tracker? The file-format (DMF) is documented on their website, and it already forces the constraints (perhaps too many? I don't know the instrument/voice format for the engine you disassembled) required.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 5:32 pm
	I'm sure it's a superset of my constraints. I'll have a look.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:01 am
	It seems like it isn't, because it has one tracker channel per chip channel. It would be possible to export to it but not import.

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3828 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:57 am
	is your format different from one tracker channel per chip channel? If so, it isn't exactly a tracker format...

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 10:40 pm
	It's three channels, but some instruments use the noise channel too (and the player code selects which one would win if two did so at once, although in practice that doesn't happen).

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3828 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:17 am
	So if it doesn't happen, you could just turn your data into a DefleMask file... well, you then probably will have to code an exporter too.

nitrofurano Joined: 01 Aug 2012 Posts: 322 Location: Porto, Portugal	Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 9:17 pm
	my experience was mostly converting .vgm to VortexTracker .txt format, but i’m still struggling on the noise channel - http://vgmrips.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&p=7305#p7305 - http://vgmrips.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2341&p=7369

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 9:51 pm
	My goal is to emit editable files and then reimport the results, so it could be as simple as emitting a module with the available instruments as samples and three channels. The issue would be that the instruments don't scale as samples, and the effects won't sound quite right either (volume changes and pitch bends). Once the module gets to sound too far from the engine, it becomes less useful to be in the tracker in the first place. For now, I've made it work in the form of assembler data statements with lots of macros. I think I will leave it for a while and carry on with the rest of my disassembly. It's on Github if you care to go looking.

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